The golden-green woodpecker is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Panama and every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.
Region
Central and South America
Typical Environment
Occurs from eastern Panama south through much of tropical South America, including the Amazon Basin and Atlantic Forest, and is absent from Chile and Uruguay. It occupies humid lowland and foothill forests, forest edges, and secondary growth, as well as gallery forests in savannas. It can persist in selectively logged or fragmented habitats if mature trees remain. Often uses mid-level to subcanopy strata, especially on larger trunks and limbs.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This medium-sized woodpecker has a distinctive golden-green sheen to its upperparts that can look almost metallic in good light. It forages quietly on trunks and larger branches, often in the midstory, and is easily overlooked despite being widespread. Several subspecies vary subtly in tone and barring across its large range. Like many woodpeckers, it excavates nest cavities in soft or decaying wood.
Piculus chrysochloros Swainson, 1820
Temperament
quiet and wary
Flight Pattern
undulating flight with short, rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually solitary or in pairs; occasionally joins mixed-species flocks while foraging. Both sexes excavate nest cavities in dead or decaying wood. Clutch and parental roles are shared, with both adults attending the nest.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations include sharp, piercing pik notes and soft rattles. Drumming is relatively short and subdued compared to larger woodpeckers, delivered in brief bursts on resonant wood.
Plumage
Upperparts glossy golden-green to bronzy-olive; underparts paler olive-buff with fine, dark barring or mottling. Head largely olive with contrasting facial markings; males show a small red malar area. Tail is darker with stiffened feathers for bracing on trunks.
Diet
Primarily feeds on ants, termites, beetle larvae, and other wood-boring insects. Gleans and probes bark, pecking and flaking to expose prey rather than heavy chiseling. Occasionally takes small fruits or other invertebrates when available.
Preferred Environment
Forages on trunks and large branches in the midstory and subcanopy of humid forests and edges. Uses dead snags, vine tangles, and fallen logs where insect activity is concentrated.
